The truth is out there (reposição)

Uma refutação do socialismo através dos factos. Aqueles mesmos factos que o mundo já aceitou na prática (incluindo a China e a Rússia) mas continua a combater ideologicamente. Um artigo excelente para guardar e mostrar aos amiguinhos marxistas, especialmente aos que procuram erradicar a pobreza.

The Wealth of Generations: Capitalism and the Belief in the Future de Johan Norberg:

What happened was that the proletarians became middle class, and the middle class began to live like the upper class. And the most liberal country, England, led the way. According to the trends of mankind until then, it would take 2 000 years to double the average income. In the mid-19th century, the British did it in 30 years. When Marx died in 1883, the average Englishman was three times richer than he was when Marx was born in 1818.

(...)

Another reason for this happiness is that a liberal and market-oriented society allows people freedom to choose. If we get used to it we will get increasingly better at choosing to live and work in ways we like. And if you don’t think you get happier by hard work and mobility, just skip it. A survey showed that 48 percent of Americans had, in the last five years, reduced their working hours, declined promotion, lowered their material expectations or moved to a quieter place. Fast-food or slow-food, no logo or pro logo? In a liberal society, you decide. That is, as long as we are free to make the decisions ourselves. Those who use happiness studies to put forth an anti-market agenda would deny us that freedom. They would tell us how to live our lives, and therefore they would reduce our ability to make such decisions in the future.

[Outubro de 2005]